The mountain also draws climbers from around the world. The first ascent came in 1913, when the Hudson Stuck expedition reached the top and Walter Harper — a young Koyukon Athabascan — became the first person to set foot on the summit, a fitting first for a peak that carried an Athabascan name. Today climbers fly in to the glaciers each spring to attempt the West Buttress and other routes, testing themselves against the cold, the altitude, and the sudden weather that the Great One is famous for throwing at anyone who tries it.
The name on the map, by contrast, has gone back and forth. In 1896 a gold prospector attached the name Mount McKinley to the peak, and the federal government made it official in 1917. Alaskans kept calling it Denali, and the state recognized that name in 1975; the federal name became Denali in 2015, then reverted to Mount McKinley in 2025. Through all of it the mountain never moved and the Athabascan name never went away — which is why, to most who know it, the peak has always simply been Denali, the Great One, whatever the paperwork said.
Why People Visit Denali
Denali offers North America's highest peak above a vast, living subarctic ecosystem — wilderness on a scale that is genuinely humbling. Visitors come for the Great One, the wildlife, and the Park Road, and stay for the quiet hikes, the railroad journey, and the immense scenery of the Alaska Range. From the gateway lodges to the tundra at the end of the road, it rewards both a quick stop and a long stay. It is immense, wild, and unforgettable in every season.
